It's completely in my blood and genes. There's no known cure for it and I am afraid it is terminal.

There is no way I would miss a year of attending.

It always occurs every third Monday in October.

That was when court was in session and country folk came into town to swap, trade, sell while they wasted away the day waiting to see how issues in court would turn out.

It quickly expanded into Saturday and Sunday too since everyone came to town early.

I sort of grew up in Mount Sterling since both sets of Grandparents and loads of relatives lived Montgomery County.

Mom & Dad went to high school there as well.

My grandmother Elizabeth lived right downtown in an apartment over a grocery store on Main Street. I loved visiting the stores in town and there is something sweet and comforting about being downtown for me.

Normally, Mt. Sterling is a quiet little Kentucky town of 6,317(2005 census) it grows to an estimated 130,000 during October Court Days!

The whole town is a giant flea market with most of the downtown streets blocked for traffic and turned into miles of vendors. I have seen every type of item for sale here.

The smell of food cooking on the outdoor grills is fabulous too! Each year there is a new HOT ITEM!

One year it was designer knock-off handbags. We stopped at one table that was a small mountain of faux Chanel and Coach handbags. Surrounding it almost four bodies deep, were frantic crazy women snatching, grabbing and bargaining with the seller in lightning speed!

The seller was this tiny Oriental girl delicately balancing on two concrete blocks(so she could have a good vantage point) with a fistful of money in one hand and a load of plastic bags on the other arm.

She would tell you what the bag was priced... then grab your money. There were many more boxes under the table full of purses. It was the quick and the dead if you wanted one.

The seller said she would only be there one day...so you better get it while the gittin is good! WhooHoo, it was fun!

You write a good story Lizette! My husband is an artist and from 1993 until 2006 we lived in our motorhome and travelled around exhibiting his artwork all over the country. So I was on the other end of the croud. We displayed our wares and people came in admired the artwork and some took them home. It is in your genes, on both sides of the coin! It was some of the best years of our lives!

Posted by Evelyn Johnston, The People You Know, Like and Trust! (Friends & Neighbors Real Estate) about 7 years ago

Hi Lizette, I really enjoyed reading your post. I would be like a kid in a candy store at this event. Gotta love that toilet paper holder, lol.

Posted by Jackie Connelly-Fornuff, "Moving at The Speed of YOU!" (Douglas Elliman Real Estate in Babylon NY) about 7 years ago

OK you got me with the ribs cooking on the grill. This looks like fun for the whole famliy.